


ask me to stay

by chingonas



Category: Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Hurt No Comfort, Lowercase, Mutual Pining, fancy way of saying i am never showing my fics to people i know ever, fluff but sad, lol, not beta read we die like men or whatever the tag is, so like, wlw yearning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:48:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27041506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chingonas/pseuds/chingonas
Summary: america runs. kate lets her. this is a game they play every time. and every time, neither of them win.
Relationships: Kate Bishop/America Chavez
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	ask me to stay

“hey.” says the darkness. it comes from behind her, catching her red handed.

“hey.” says america. she admits defeat. this time she wasn’t quick enough. 

“you know you can stop, right?” says the darkness, holding a spare pillow and blanket. 

“stop what?” says america, scared of the answer. 

“running.” says the darkness, softly. she moves to the couch and sets the pillow down, draping the blanket over the cushions to create a makeshift bed. it looks soft. america’s chest hurts at the sight. kate bishop stands at the side of the couch, america sees her clearly now. the darkness is gone. it’s just the two of them- kate and america. 

“i’m sorry.” america chokes it out. her skin feels hot and it burns and stings all at once. hers a wound there somewhere, and kate’s eyes stare right into it. how can she stay? when her destiny is waiting for her somewhere out there, back in the darkness from whence kate came? 

how can she stay? when standing still for too long feels like a sugary sweet death sentence. so tempting. so painful. so slow to kill. 

“i’m sorry.” america says it again. and maybe it’s because she does love kate. maybe it’s because there is no one else america would rather cry with, laugh with, stay with. but leaving hurts less than cutting her heart out and sharing it. leaving on her own hurts less than being told to go. 

“i’m sorry.” america says one last time. and it’s true, she is, but what do apologies mean when they’re signed off with the same signature every time. empty rooms and quiet spaces that scream louder after you’ve seen their potential for life. america’s being there at all is a worse crime than her absence, but one cannot exist without the other. 

“it’s okay.” says kate, and they both know it’s a lie. the moonlight bounces off her black hair. she looks so tired, and it hurts america that they both know it’s her fault. 

america reaches for the door and hesitates,  _ ask me to stay _ . she turns back and looks at kate, searching the girl’s face for some reason, some excuse, some anything. any sign of something to stay for. any sign as long as it’s from kate. 

(why can’t kate be enough of a reason?)

kate looks away, _i can’t_ . and it stings, looking at kate and not locking eyes. every part of america wants to stay. she wants to fall asleep on the couch in the middle of a dumb movie kate swears is a masterpiece. she wants to wake up to burnt eggs and black coffee, the hawkeye signature. she wants to exist in this space, in kate’s space. but she can’t. she doesn’t know how. they don’t teach you this kind of love amongst the stars. they don’t teach you that it burns, that it tears at your rib cage and eats at your lungs. it’s an evil america can’t fight. it’s an evil she doesn’t know what to do with. so america resorts to what she does know. america leaves. she locks and shuts the door behind her.

kate stands at the side of the couch. alone. she doesn’t let herself cry. the galactic sound of a portal opening and closing outside her apartment door seals the deal. she’s still in the darkness, waiting for something already up and gone. that night kate can’t go back to sleep. she doesn’t even try. 

**Author's Note:**

> amerikate tag needs more content tbh


End file.
